Pragmatic Villainy: Difference between revisions

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* Blue and or black villains in ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' tend to abide by this.
* Blue and or black villains in ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' tend to abide by this.
* Illithids in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' have to be pragmatic since their powerbase is a mere shadow of what it was in their glory days. Illithids would like nothing better than to gorge themselves on humanoid brains, but most of them are smart enough to realize that indulging their appetites too frequently would bring the wrath of every other humanoid race upon their tentacled heads. So the Illithids limit themselves to one or two brains a month while engaging in backroom deals, slave trading, and subtly aiming for power in the shadows.
* Illithids in ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' have to be pragmatic since their powerbase is a mere shadow of what it was in their glory days. Illithids would like nothing better than to gorge themselves on humanoid brains, but most of them are smart enough to realize that indulging their appetites too frequently would bring the wrath of every other humanoid race upon their tentacled heads. So the Illithids limit themselves to one or two brains a month while engaging in backroom deals, slave trading, and subtly aiming for power in the shadows.
** Also, despite being brain-eating eldritch monsters, illithids generally have good relations with their neighbors. This is because they have the power to astrally project themselves into other planes of existence, and so never actually eat any of their neighbors but instead confine their raiding to people who have no practical way to reach their tormentors, or even find out what planet they live on.
** Also, despite being brain-eating eldritch monsters, illithids generally have good relations with their neighbors. This is because they have the power to astrally project themselves into other planes of existence, and so never actually eat any of their neighbors because their neighbors know where they live. Instead they largely confine their raiding to extra-planar or remote victims who have no practical way to reach their tormentors, or even find out what planet they live on.
** Also, since the illithid method of travel has an imprecise arrival point, illithids have a practical reason to keep a several-mile radius around their home free of predators and other dangers. Between this and their "don't eat where you keep your shit" policy, its actually safer to live right next door to an illithid colony than it is to live next door to pretty much any other sentient race in the Underdark save the good-aligned deep gnomes.
** Also, since the illithid method of travel has an imprecise arrival point, illithids have a practical reason to keep a several-mile radius around their home free of predators and other dangers. Between this and their "don't eat where you keep your shit" policy, its actually safer to live right next door to an illithid colony than it is to live next door to pretty much any other sentient race in the Underdark save the good-aligned deep gnomes.